juggler
(ˈdʒʌglə(r))
Forms: α. 1 iugelere, ᵹeogelere, 2 iugulere, 3–4 iugelour, (4 -elur, -ellur), 3–6 iogeler, 4–5 ioguler, -or, -ur, -our, -owre, iogoler, -our(e, -ur, iuguler, -or, iugoler, iugillure, -our, 4–6 iogelour, (5 -owre), 6–7 iuggeler. β. 3–4 iuglur, 4 ioglere, 5 ioglour(e, 5–6 iuglour, 6 iogler, iougler, iuglar, 6–7 iugler, iuggler, 7 juglar, (jugleur), 7–9 jugler, 7– juggler.
[ad. OF. nom. jog-, jug-, jouglere, acc. jogleor, jog-, jougelour, later jougleur = It. giocolatore:—L. joculātor, -ātōrem, agent-n. from joculārī to jest. Some of the ME. forms may represent the OF. synonym jogeler, jougler = Sp. juglar, It. giocogliere:—L. juculāris jocular, droll, in med.L. as n. = ‘mimus, scurra’; but already in the late OE. iugelere we see the suffix levelled under the native -ere, later -er1. The trisyllabic iuguler, ioguler, etc. were app. influenced by the Latin form. See also jongleur.]
† 1. One who entertains or amuses people by stories, songs, buffoonery, tricks, etc.; a jester, buffoon. (Often used with implied contempt or reprobation.) Obs.
| α c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 29 Þa liȝeres and þa wohdemeres and þa iuguleres, and þa oðer sottes. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 271/19 Is Iugelour a day bi-fore him pleide faste, And nemde in his ryme and in is song þene deuel atþe laste. a 1300 K. Horn 1494 (Ritson) Men seide hit were harperis, Jogelers, ant fythelers. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 138 In a Iogulers lykenesse y wys He went to aspye what dede his fone. 1483 Caxton Cato B v, Them that can kepe no thynge secretelyas iogelers, mynstrellys, foles..and yonge chyldren. 1591 Spenser M. Hubbard 86, I meane me to disguize In some straunge habit..like a Gipsen, or a Iuggeler. |
| β a 1225 Ancr. R. 210 Summe iuglurs beoð þet ne kunnen seruen of non oðer gleo, buten makien cheres, & wrenchen mis hore muð, & schulen mid hore eien. a 1300 Cursor M. 28382 Oure fele..sith haf i..to gleumen cald and to ioglere, in tent þai suld me luueworde bere. 1557 Paynell Barclay's Jugurth I. 91, I haue no iougler nor dyzar with me to moue sportes and dissolute laughynge. |
2. One who works marvels by the aid of magic or witchcraft, a magician, wizard, sorcerer (obs.); one who plays tricks by sleight of hand; a performer of legerdemain; a conjurer.
| α a 1100 Aldhelm Glosses 4020 (Napier 106/2) Aruspicum, iugelera. Ibid. 4476 Marsi, dryas, iugeleras [Brussels MS. ᵹeogelere]. a 1300 Cursor M. 5898 Þan cald þe king his enchaunturs, Þ e craftes of his iogulurs, Dun þai kest a wand ilkan, And þai wex dragons son onan. Ibid. 20891 Symon magus, þat iugelur [v.rr. iuglur, iugillure, Iogelour]..ledd þe folk wit grett errur. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 169 Ther saugh I pley Iugelours Magiciens and tregetours. 1509 Gosp. Nicodemus (W. de W. 1518) 12 Iames and Zambres the whiche were iogelers and wytches. 1555 Eden Decades 46 He conueygheth the piece of fleshe owte of his owne mouth like a iuggeler. 1601–2 W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 97 This is many waies done, and iuggelers and professors of feates can performe it. |
| β a 1300 [see α above]. a 1400–50 Alexander 410 Þe Iuse for his gemetry þat Iogloure takis. c 1450 Holland Howlat 770 In com iapand the Ia as a iuglour. 1529 More Dyaloge ii. Wks. 200/2 The serpent of Moises deuoured all the serpentes..of the Egipcyan ioglers. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 5 No lesse deceytfull then ligier de meyne in the hand of a iuggler. 1662 Pepys Diary 15 Aug., After dinner comes in a jugleur, which showed us very pretty tricks. 1761 Churchill Apol. 122 It flies,—hey!—presto!—like a jugler's ball. 1808 A. Parsons Trav. xiv. 308 Buffoons and juglers, who come in groupes with music into the channel, and play their tricks. 1875 E. White Life in Christ iii. xxi. (1878) 310 Phenomena travestied by the jugglers of the Egyptian Hall. |
3. transf. and fig. One who deceives by trickery; a trickster; one who plays fast and loose (with).
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxx. 16 Þai ere all faitors & ypocrites & iogulors þat dessayues man. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 99 Þei [Prelatis] bicomen þe deuelis iogelours to blynde mennus gostly eiȝ en. a 1400–50 Alexander 4526 Iupitir þat Ioglour sum Iape bos haue. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 7 This [gem] is a maruellous Iugler, for it wil cause things obiect to be presented to our eies as it listeth. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 282 O me, you iugler, you canker blossome, You theefe of loue. 1651 Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) 226 The two great Jugglers..in Scotland, viz. Hamilton and Argyle. 1769 Burke Late St. Nat. Wks. 1842 I. 85 All the little tricks of finance which the expertest juggler of the treasury can practise. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 376 The Sophist..is proved to be a dissembler and juggler with words. |
4. Comb., as juggler-like adj. or adv.
| 1639 Habington Castara ii. (Arb.) 97 Honour doth appeare To statesmen like a vision in the night, And jugler-like workes oth' deluded sight. |
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Add: [2.] b. spec. A person who practises juggling (sense *c).
This sense separated gradually from sense 2 a as the specific skill gained recognition as a form of entertainment distinct from conjuring, etc.
| a 1807 W. Wordsworth Poems in Two Vols. I. 119 A Juggler's Balls old Time about him toss'd. 1816 Handbill 3 Sept., The Chinese Jugglers... Three large knives are thrown up and caught together with..dexterity. 1821 W. Hazlitt Table Talk IX. 181 The chief of the Indian Jugglers begins with tossing up two brass balls. c 1894 in Entertainment Soc. 8 Juggler, suitable for garden party or school treats, &c. 1931 H. S. Walpole Judith Paris ii. vii. 383 The sky tossed cloud after cloud as though there were some giant juggler over the hill. 1937 F. Foster Clowning Through 100 One is apt to think of a juggler as a person who throws up and catches a number of balls. 1963 A. Farrer in F. F. Bruce Promise & Fulfilment 104 Keeping (like jugglers) half a dozen balls in the air at once. 1987 Telford Jrnl. 4 June 11/3 The..circus acts..will include jugglers. |